Dong et al. (2025): Asymmetric bubble-mediated gas transfer enhances global ocean CO₂ uptake
Yuanxu Dong, Mingxi Yang, Thomas G. Bell, Christa A. Marandino & David K. Woolf, IN: Nature Communications, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-66652-5
Sea-air carbon dioxide (CO₂) flux is typically estimated from the product of the gas transfer velocity (K) and the CO₂ fugacity difference between the ocean surface and atmosphere. Total gas exchange comprises interfacial transfer across the unbroken surface and bubble-mediated transfer from wave breaking. While interfacial transfer is symmetric for invasion and evasion, bubble-mediated transfer theoretically favours invasion due to hydrostatic pressure, though field evidence has been lacking. Here the authors provide direct field evidence of this asymmetry and develop an asymmetric flux equation.